


Blood Trail

by skyzthelimit



Category: DreamSMP, Fantasy AU - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:20:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28633899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyzthelimit/pseuds/skyzthelimit
Summary: (Basically a fantasy AU of the DreamSMP... with a bit of a twist)Ranboo dreams of proving that he can be great to his idolized cousin.Tommy just wants to prove that he's not some little kid, he can take care of himself.George hopes to be able to rule his Kingdom with peace that has been absent for too long.But everything is going to fall apart when a single figure sets out on a mysterious mission, changing paths to a future that will effect all their lives... for better or worse.
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

The light was glowing in the dark mysterious forest home to the Elven Families. The magical plants glimmered with their bioluminescent rings and splotches, but that was not where most of the light was coming from. From within a gapping ravine, filled normally with calmly gleaming lights was dressed with celebratory flair. Today was a party in Megálos, because today was the birthday of the prince. 

While the streets may have been festive, within the humble palace the party was almost inexistent. Instead, an almost hostile air floated through the halls. Something was wrong, anyone in the palace would have been able to tell. Something was changing. 

While the prince was never one to be particularly rambunctious at parties, he would always make a polite appearance before his city. While the elves didn't have a standard government and his position was more for show than anything else, it was still a formality he had to undertake. In their home though, there was often at least friendly chatter between the family members. This year something was different though. The prince had not come from his room. The air was tense. Elves could often sense the emotions of those they lived by. Perhaps it was because of their almost amphibian features, causing them to release their emotions and pick up others easier than others. 

Something was wrong.

The queen, worried for her son, left the main hall in search of what was worrying him. As she neared his room though, there seemed to be almost an emptiness in the air. Even when he was hiding his emotions, normally his presence could still be sensed. But there was nothing.

When the queen entered the room, the prince was gone. The room was still in it's normally organized chaos, so it didn't seem as though he had been taken. His bags, cape, and weapons had gone with him, but he was not one to leave without commenting. The queen looked around the room and found a small note on the table. Before even reading it, she noticed the small splatter of blood that had fallen on the table beside it. Why was there blood? How had she not felt his pain?

The note assured her he was safe... but where he was going was not answered.

Out in the forest, just topping the ravine, a light skinned elf looked out into the forest. His shoulders were heavy with the weight of his objects and cloak, but also with something else that couldn't be seen. He glanced once back at his home, before shaking his head and taking his steps into the darkened forest.

Behind him on the grass, a rain of crimson droplets hit the grass.


	2. Greater Aisling

The morning sun drifted through the curtains. The birds made it very clear that it was morning. But, just because it was morning didn't mean you had to get up. Unless, of course, you had a whole kingdom to manage. Then you did. All the same, he didn't plan on moving as the world began to wake up around him. Why would he after all? His kingdom wouldn't break if he slept in for five minutes right? 

Unfortunately for the new king, he wasn't going to get a chance to find out if that was true today. A bright, familiar voice cut through the air as the door swung open. "Wake up sleepyhead!" 

Come on, really? Did he never get to sleep in? George was about to complain when he felt a light creature clamber it's way onto his chest. One eye opened identified it as his brothers familiar. There was no arguing with the somehow adorable but also terrifying icy blue stare that looked down at him. He sighed and scratched the feline's head, before carefully shoving himself into a sitting position. "Did you have to open all the curtains?"

The other boy spun around at his voice. "Uh yea! Do you have any idea how many times you've slept through big events?" His ginger hair glowed as he threw open the last pair. Nicholas, or more commonly referred to as Nick, had always been in it to annoy his older sibling. 

"Don't you even start! I have slept through no more events then you have nearly ruined them!" George protested back, knowing very well that there had been plenty of times where his brother's magic had broken one thing or another. He stood up to stretch when a piece of heavy fabric hit him in the side. "Hey!"

Nick was bent over laughing and his brother tossed the blanket aside. His look quickly changed to a competitive smile when he dodged away from his brother's light attack. "Missed me loser!" He chuckled, whistling to his familiar as he dodged past another attack and booked it to the other side of the room. Their stupid game could have gone on forever if not for a sound from the door.

The captain stood there in her usual proper way, waiting for the boys to rearrange themselves. She had known them since they were born, so the scene of fond sparring probably didn't give her reason to bat an eye. For a second, George was glad he preferred wearing thick clothes to sleep. It would have been way more embarrassing at this age if he was any less dressed. After his brother took his place at his side, he addressed the official. "Good morning Captain, what can I do for you?"

The captain smiled slightly, her sheepish ears flicking slightly in amusement. He'd come to recognize some of her species mannerisms over the years, but that one, no matter how official the situation was, always seemed cute to him. She quickly got on to the matter, addressing the knight he hadn't even really registered was standing beside her. "Your majesty, as you know all king's have their own personal knight. I've come to introduce you to yours." She gestured towards the figure beside her, who bowed his head in respect.

"Thank you, was the city safe overnight?" He knew that not everyone had been happy with a new king, certainly not when the new king was him. Many had wanted his brother to take the role instead, which George would have preferred. He didn't really have much interest in being king, and he'd never been much good at it. But their laws didn't allow it, most notably because he was the oldest and it was therefore his by birth, but also because mages could not ascend to the throne unless there was not other option. It had something to do with magical revolts. He had never cared, it had always been so boring to him.

The captain nodded. "Yes, no one sparked any trouble." She glanced behind her at a sound that he couldn't hear, but her ears had clearly heard something by the way they moved. "You might want to get a move on, my king. I think you have work to do." 

Right. He had to run a whole kingdom. "I probably should. Thank you captain." That was a signal for everyone to leave. He waiting patiently as his brother, after giving him a final bump on the shoulder, made his way down the hall and his knight was the only one remaining. George had once had a knight, long ago. At the time, their country had been in danger and his parents thought it best to have someone around his own age so it wasn't too weird. One of the top younglings had been chosen to protect him and his brother. Once the danger had gone though, his new friend had gone back to his training to become a palace guard. He hadn't seen him since, nor had he been under the watch of a knight. 

It was a little weird he realized, now that he wasn't a little kid. Even though the guard had politely turned to face the door, there was still something awkward about the whole thing to him as he scrambled to change into his proper attire. Soon enough though, he was heading towards the castle's main halls. It wasn't much of a maze to him, but the palace itself had plenty of confusing turning points. There were two main halls in the castle, one where social events were held and the one they currently walked through. George supposed it wasn't really a main hall, but he had never thought of any other name for it. Numerous meeting rooms and studies branched off on either side, but he was heading towards the biggest at the far end when he would meet with the council. 

As he entered the room, the slight chatter that had been filling the room dwindled to a stop. There was something so horrendously awkward about how much everything had changed since his coronation. As a prince he had been able to walk in and join the chatter, but for some reason now they felt the need to be quiet. 

"Are you ready for us to begin?" The captain asked as he stopped next to his seat. She stood to his right at her own chair. Even though there were chairs provided, during their morning meetings there was rarely ever any sitting. Before her, a neat journal sat holding her collected notes for the day's plans. On his other side, over one chair, his brother stood waiting expectantly.

He nodded, very slightly panicking as he felt his crown shift with the movement. Luckily, it didn't fall as the captain began her report. While he did pay attention to what she was saying, he couldn't say any of it was really sinking in. He thanked her as she finished and the seat was passed on to the man next to her. From just looking at him, one could never have guessed what his position was. His short blonde hair was tipped with a pale purple almost, and slight violet and silver tattoos peaked up from where his shirt ended on his neck and arms. While he gave off more punk vibes, that was their army general, and an incredibly talented one at that. 

His report had to do with some border concerns reported from towns closer to the edge of the kingdom. For the most part, they were minor, nothing more than tensions which were to be expected. As his report came to a close, he made sure to congratulate George's knight. It had never really occurred to the king that protecting him was probably a high honor, and as he saw the way the general's apprentice looked at his defender it made sense. It was probably something most knights and soldiers would spend their whole lives training for. 

A few other parties spoke, their reports mostly on the well being of the kingdom and the production of their more profitable goods. Eventually though, it was his brother's turn. Though it hadn't always been intended, Nick's abilities had always been particularly exceptional for a mage of his age. So, granted his abilities and his royal birth, he had come to represent the mage's on the council a few years before. His speech had to do with the upcoming visit from the leaders of the Badlands, a neighboring kingdom. While it wasn't called the Badlands in their native language, the appearance of the lands had given it that name in human terms.

"What do you think, your majesty?" The question broke through his thoughts about the particular landscape of the nation. He paused as though he was thinking, but really he was trying to remember what his brother had been saying. He was nearly about to embarrassingly admit that he hadn't heard the question when a small whisper sounded from behind him. 

"About the visit. Do you think his magic restriction spells will work?" The voice was just loud enough for him to hear it, and it carried no judgement. He was thankful, and nodded his head as he made his reply.

"I'm sure you've been putting plenty of effort into it, so I'm sure it will work out. Plus, if it doesn't, you'll just have to fix it. Thank you." And with that, the meeting was closed. Normally, any political issues would have been presented by his advisor, but right now the kind man was off doing very vital tasks. He was the first to take his leave from the meeting hall, as he should, and began making his way towards his study. 

As he reached the door, he felt the need to knock and wait for his father to call him in, but that was no longer the case. Things were different now, and though his father was still doing perfectly fine, there was something off about stepping into the study that was now his. He looked over the room, deciding that it was neat enough for him and then headed towards the desk. As he flicked through the papers that had been placed there, he glanced up at the knight. "Thank you."

Though the mask hid his expressions, the slight jerk of the knight's head in his direction showed that he was shocked by the address. "What for, your majesty?"

"Helping me during the meeting." George couldn't help but chuckle at the reminder of his near mess up. "I'm not very good at council meetings."

The knight seemed taken aback for a moment, before nodding. "I get that. I'm glad I could help, your majesty."

"Please, when it's just the two of us you can just call me George." He knew that it was out of respect that the knight was using his title, but he felt like he didn't deserve the title. Even if it was his to keep, he didn't quite feel comfortable with it. "What can I call you?"

He seemed almost hesitant, as though years of training went against this. He must had decided though that a direct order meant more than training, and nodded before responding to the question. "I don't really have a name, but my friends call me 'Dreamer' or 'Dream' for short."


	3. Forbidden Woods

Dust flew through the air as two figures clashed in the sunny courtyard. Skid marks from their hours of hard work marked across the sandy clearing between the large castle walls. Even though they had been at it for hours, they probably would have kept on going if another figure hadn’t come to interrupt them. “Tommy.”

The young blonde turned around as he blocked a blow from his opponent. “What do you want Wil?”

“Stop it and pay attention.” The older boy scolded, crossing his arms in irritation. “Remember what we agreed on?”

Tommy sighed and came to a stop as he glanced away. “Yea, yea. I remember. But Tubbo and I were just sparring! Couldn’t you have waited until we were done?”

Wilbur’s gaze traveled over Tommy’s shoulder to the smaller boy, and the look that crossed his face gave Tommy the feeling that maybe Tubbo needed the break. And sure enough, as he glanced over his shoulder, he saw the hidden exhaustion on the boy’s face. “Oh… right. You should have told me you were tired!” While he may have looked irritated, there was a fond concern in his words. 

“Sorry.” Tubbo smiled slightly, trying to act like he didn’t mind the effort. He was really just too polite for his own good, but he was sweet. “Where are we going?”

Tommy was going to answer but Wilbur jumped in. “This is just a brother date, you can go. I know your bumble dragons miss you.” 

Tubbo’s face lit up at the news. He loved his little bumble dragons to all ends of the world. “Alright, thank you Wilbur!” And then he was off, running towards the exit and dropping his wooden sword in a basket on the way.

Tommy waited for him to be out of sight before turning back to Wilbur. “So, what are we doing?” Yea, he remembered that his brother had needed him for something, but he had completely tuned out what. 

“Come on. Dad is gonna notice if we’re out too late.” Wilbur completely ignored his question and he brushed past Tommy towards a different exit. Just seeing where he was going reminded Tommy of their goal. The magical woods that bordered their little town had recently become really interesting to Wil, but their father didn’t like them going there alone. Or at all really.

The blonde boy let out an annoyed sigh before turning to run after his brother. Wilbur and his obsessions: music, hats, and now the magic woods. And he had to be the one to put up with it? “So, what’s so incredible about these woods that you’re going against Dad’s rules?”

Wilbur didn’t answer at first as they left the main gate from the main part of the city center. However as they passed some of the town’s guard with a nod, he began an explanation. Well… sort of. “You’ve seen them and the stuff that comes out of them, how are you not curious? Also since when do you care about breaking rules?”

“Touche. Touche.” Tommy nodded. Wilbur did make a good point, he never cared about rules. At all.

They fell silent again as they walked through the streets. Vir may have been relatively grand, but it wasn’t very populated. Most of the people worked indoors or at neat vendors near the city center, out here it was just a peaceful walk towards the final wall. One of the things Tommy had once been required to learn about was the purpose of the final wall. He didn’t care all too much, but he remembered it was an enchanted defense against the elven woods. Now, since they were no longer at war with the elves, it stood as a great protector. And something to block Wilbur’s plans.

“Halt.” The voice came as they neared the exit. The large wooden doors were kept open, and it always made Tommy just a little confused why they bothered keeping them open if they were going to stop everyone anyway. “Where are you two off to?”

“We just wanted to gather some plants to study. We’ll be back before dark.” Wilbur looked the guard in the eyes with such a calm gaze that Tommy knew it was fake. The guard didn’t seem to pick up on this and merely nodded, bidding them well on their way.

Outside of the city was somewhere Tommy had never spent much time. When he was little it had been too dangerous and too much work on his already overworked father, and now the appeal just didn’t arise when he was perfectly happy within his home.

Wilbur looked around before nodding back towards the city. “You can just chill out here. I really only needed your help to get out of the place.”

What? Wilbur was just ditching him?! No way. “Well at least give me your sword so I can practice, I can’t just sit here doing nothing!” Tommy protested, flinging his arms out as he followed his brother across the bridge to the woods. “You didn’t say you were just going to leave me.”

“I’m not leaving you. And you’ll hurt yourself with a sword.” His older brother argued back, stopping at the edge of the trees and bending down to pick something up. Quickly, Tommy recognized it as a large stick which was carefully tossed to him. “Practice with this, and don’t go anywhere. I don’t have time to find you if you get lost.”

Before Tommy could argue, the taller boy was off, quickly vanishing into the dark woods. “I wouldn't hurt myself.” He grumbled, tossing the silly thing away as he slouched down next to a tree. Just like everyone else it felt like, Tommy was just still a little kid in their eyes. When would they see that he wasn’t a kid! He could take perfectly good care of himself.

With an annoyed huff, the blonde shoved himself to his feet and reluctantly reached for the stick. Maybe he could just… pretend? Pretend it was really, pretend his family believed in him? The thought only made him more irritated as he reeled back and slammed the stick into the tree. Something about just getting his anger out made him feel better, he even smiled a bit as he watched the wooden shards of his now broken weapon hit the ground. 

Someone would have to see that he wasn’t a kid anymore soon… right? 

A crack in the forest behind him caused him to spin around. What was that? Tommy’s blue gaze scanned the forest holding his shattered twig in front of him. Who was there? Or what was there?

He took a step forward, looking into the bushes. Had he imagined it? No, he hadn’t. His certainty was confirmed as his gaze met a multicolored one in the bushes.


	4. Bumbling

The blue eyes that stared back at him sent fear through his body. A human! He’d never seen one. They’d never had any humans in  Megálos, but he’d learned a lot about them. Mostly about the wars they had caused. There were no wars now, and yet just seeing a human reminded him of the tales from his childhood. Blood thirsty humans who craved war. 

The sharpened stick in the person’s grasp was held in an almost defensive position, but the younger boy couldn’t tell that. He just saw the pointed end before him and thought that he was about to be stabbed. 

The human opened his mouth, asking something in words he didn’t understand, but something about it told him that he needed to go, that he shouldn’t be here. And so before the boy could say anymore in his strange language, the little elf turned and bolted down the river, much to the shocked protests from behind him. 

He ran as far as he could before coming to a stop. Where was he now? This had all gone so wrong. All he wanted to do was find his cousin. If he could figure out why he had left, he could help him, he could bring him home. They could be happy again.

He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. Not that he had anything to base it off of. There was another bridge over the river, which led to open fields of green speckled with colorful flowers. There didn’t seem to be any humans there. So, the elf carefully grabbed a small stick, humans would stay away if he had one since they clearly saw them as weapons. Then he carefully picked his way across the bridge. 

It wasn’t long before he got distracted. A warm golden creature flapped by, a Bumble Dragon! He hadn’t ever seen one before, since there were no open spaces near his home for them to live. They were so much prettier in person then they were in books. Forgetting his sense of danger entirely, he ran to chase after the creature. He hardly even noticed when the open fields switched to farm land filled with golden blades. He didn’t notice as he chased the creature over a wall and smack into another being.

He quickly popped up from the ground looking at the human that lay in front of him, the dragons fluttering down around the boy. He carefully scratched one on the chin before pushing himself up. He was small, smaller than the elf, with round brown eyes and slightly messy hair to match. 

The boy tilted his head, before saying something. He seemed friendly, but regardless the elf held his stick up, pointing it as his chest. It was just a simple twig, no harm could be done, but regardless the boy held his hands up as if to say he was harmless. 

As they sat there in a stalemate, one of the little dragons crawled into the boy’s lap, sniffing at his hands, as another landed on his head. The brown headed boy couldn’t help but laugh at the little dragons, who even managed to cause a smile to form on the elven boy’s face. One of the dragons even came to nibble on the stick in his hands, and he felt obligated to give it to the creature. 

Even though he had run from another human not seconds before, this one seemed safe. This one didn’t instill a sense of fear in him, rather, a sense of safety. He felt safe here, with this boy and his dragons. 

Eventually though, the two were forced to look back at each other, each clearly not sure what to do with the one that opposed them. What could either of them do? He’d never met a human until today, and the boy looked like he had never seen an elf. The boy held out his hand, saying something in the human language. What was it with humans and just talking? Did they not know how to signal as well? It was common to signal when speaking to another elf in case they didn’t fully understand you. The elven language was tricky after all.

When the elf didn’t move, the boy put his hand back, saying something else. Once again he was met with a confused look. Carefully, the human pushed himself to his feet and held out a hand. This one the elf did understand, reaching up to grab it as he stood as well. He was taller than the boy, even though he was rather young. Maybe humans just didn’t get very tall? He wasn’t sure. It felt almost strange to be looking down, so the elf crouched slightly so he could be around the same height as the human.

The human said something again, which clearly wasn’t going to receive a response. Then he started moving his hands. A point to the elf, a shaking of the head, a motion of talking and listening, and then a point at himself.  _ You no talk hear me?  _ Was that a strange way humans spoke to each other? Then it all made sense as the boy repeated the actions, saying something this time.

“You don’t understand me?” His brown eyes blinked as he waited for an answer, and though the elf didn’t entirely understand his sentence word for word, he could pick up the general meaning, and responded in turn.

“ _ No. _ ” He replied in elvish, shaking his head. They clearly didn’t understand each other, not their languages at least, but they could make the best of a conversation with the motions they could make. It was a little bit fun anyway, and in all honesty he didn’t mind it.

What were they to do? Neither seemed to know what to do next, so the little dragons went back to demanding attention, flying onto their shoulders and into their arms. A calm silence settled over them as the little dragons flew back and forth around them. 

During the silence, the elf-boy took a moment to look around. He was in a garden of some kind perhaps. A stone wall, which he had jumped to get in, surrounded it with one wall being a human building. One wall had a small wooden gate on it, and the entire enclosed space was filled with flowers and wooden trees without leaves. In the farthest corner from them, a tree grew up next to the house. Clearly, whatever this place was, it was as much the dragon’s as it was the people’s. 

As the two boys stood in the garden, sometimes trying to signal to each other and other times just playing with the dragons, both seemed to forget the passage of time. Before long, shadows began to creep towards them, causing the human to shiver slightly in the cold.

The elf looked back the way he had come, towards the woods he could see in the distance. He looked back at the human, who was waving a hand as if to get attention. 

“Do you want to stay?” A point towards him, a point to the house, a sleeping motion. Did the boy want him to remain here? He was inclined to accept when he heard footsteps coming towards him. Quickly, he sprinted backwards and hopped back to hide behind the wall. After a moment the elf heard human voices, but soon the second human left, and the brown haired boy popped his head over the wall. 

The offer clearly still stood, but the elf was scared of there being another human. This one was ok, but he didn’t know who else was there. “ _ No. _ ” He shook his head once more. 

The boy frowned, then pointed to himself. “Tubbo.”

At first, the elven boy was confused, before understanding. That was his name! Tubbo. It seemed only polite to give his in response. He pointed at himself and smiled. “ _ Ranboo. _ ”


End file.
